Inmate health care

Inmates at the Cape Girardeau County Jail now have to pay their own way if they go to a hospital.

The county previously provided hospital services, viewing inmates as county wards. Sheriff John Jordan made the policy change after making sure state statutes allows counties to require prisoners to pay for their own medical care.

Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter adopted a similar policy after taking office in 2005. He discovered that inmates' medical complaints drastically declined once they found out they would have to pay for their treatment.

Cape Girardeau County spent more than $21,000 last year sending inmates to Cape Girardeau's two hospitals. Before the county enlisted a full-time health-care provider, the jail's hospital bills sometimes totaled nearly $40,000 annually. January's hospital bill was nearly $2,000.

Requiring inmates to pay their own hospital bills will save the county $34,000 a year in premiums alone, Jordan says.

The jail already charges inmates $10 for each visit to the staff physician, $3 to see the staff nurse and $4 per prescription.

The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department has budgeted $220,000 for inmate medical care this year. That's nearly one-third of the department's entire operating budget. This is an attempt to bring those costs under control.

As long as county inmates continue to receive the medical care they need, this sounds like a prudent decision.